its time for a video game history lesson for everyone out there. The year was 1990 and yours truly was the happy and proud owner of a brand new Sega Genesis system. For those of you who weren’t born yet or have no clue what the Sega Genesis is/was then I am truly saddened for you.

Having grown up in the 80’s I was privileged to be a part of the industry during its golden years and in essence a time that really is the reason you have a XBOX or Playstation in your homes today. The era known as the 8 bit era which included systems like the NES and SEGA Master System evolved into the 16 bit era where game consoles came that much closer to surpassing their Arcade parents and eventually the industry would evolve to the point where the machines in your homes replaced everyone going into social venues like arcades in favour of high-speed internet connections to give us our daily dose of social interaction.

In the 80’s-90’s video games shipped on little things called ” Cartridges”

The 16 bit era hold a special part in my life as it was the time when I was most active in the hobby and acquired a massive collection of video games and systems ( all of which have mysteriously disappeared as I have gotten older?). In 1990 a friend and I rented a Genesis game on the weekend that we had never heard of before and boy where we in for a surprise. A little game called ” Herzog Zwei” took my soul and owned it!

Looking back on that game I now realize that it was my first experience in competitive gaming. Unlike current generation of consoles the 16 bit era required two people to play on the same screen to play any kind of multi player game and competitive gaming was limited to sports games and a small helping of fighting games that could be ported to the home consoles intact.

Herzog Zwei was a top down strategy game much like Starcraft or HALO Wars and allowed two players to compete with each other on the same screen via a split screen system. This game pre dated all other Real Time strategy games PERIOD! This was the First RTS ever delivered to the north american gaming public and it was on the Sega Genesis !The game put the players in control of a transformable jet much like a Transformer or something out of Robotech and allowed you to zip around the games maps in jet mode and then shift to robot mode to take on numerous enemy units that opposed you.

The game used a resource system that revolved around building bases and generating a pool that could be used to build more units such as infantry, motorcycle units, tanks etc. The presentation was that of a saturday morning anime show and had a very Japanese influence despite its German Nomenclature

There was no story mode; just a multi player option or an option to play against the computer. Red vs Blue in its earliest incarnation and it was AWESOME

16 bit Graphics where amazing…for the time

The game eventually faded into obscurity like many of the 16 bit era games and as the technology in home consoles evolved this game was buried and forgotten. No ” next-gen” version ever serviced. The publisher responsible for bringing the game to us ( Technosoft) has also gone down a similar path as its beloved game.

Imagine my surprise when I came across an article on the web talking about a game that had ” Herzog Zwei” inspirations. A developer named Carbon had created a spiritual successor to one of my favourite games I have ever played! As I read on my interest grew and today I am excited to tell you that Herzog Zwei is no longer dead..it has been reborn as ” Air Mech”

Air Mech was released back in 2012 via a short PC Alpha and then a full Xbox 360 release. Most of its marketing was conducted through heavy word of mouth and of course a strong focus on the E-sport segment of the gaming market. The game is a suitable fit for Pro players wanting to sink their teeth into a highly competitive game in the vein of Star Craft.It has taken awhile but with Next Gen fully in swing it was inveitable that a PS4 and Xbox One port would follow.

Eat your Heart out Starcraft

The game has a fairly brief tutorial to bring you up to speed and now uses an outright Anime art style complete with cool looking characters to draw you into the games narrative. The way the game is delivered to the player reminded me of the game ” Advance Wars” for the Gameboy Advance and DSI. nonetheless a very cool way to introduce new players and old players alike to the games new world.

A VERY anime style makes this game ooze all sorts of Cool!

Mechanics have been updated with tweaks to make it more robust and deep but the basics remain. What we have here is a game that could very well give some established RTS games a run for its money and I can definitely see this game becoming a premiere competitive title once its release in its full form.

One of the big differentiators this game has from all other RTS is its action elements. You do not move a cursor around in this game and simply click on troops and units. In Air Mech you are a soldier on the battlefield as well. You are the commander in your ” Air Mech” and have to take part in the fighting while moving around the map picking up units and transporting them to different parts of the battlefield to do their job.

There is never a moment in this game where your fingers are sitting idle; you are a part of the action and it feels great to be zipping around and transforming at will to fight alongside your various units.

Upgrades are a major part of any RTS and in this case you can now purchase different types of “Air mechs” to use. Better jets, helicopters and variations of your basic jet found in Herzog Zwei are now a part of your experience in Air Mech.

This generation of consoles has started to expose console players to new genres of gaming that we didn’t get a chance to experience on last gen. Its about time that a very refined RTS game lands in our laps and broadens the player base of these types of Game.

Air Mech is primed to take center stage and Game Nexus will be doing our part to add to its success however we can!